Springer Might Star In Hearing

After questioning whether the mayhem on the "Jerry Springer" show is real or fake, Chicago aldermen decided Wednesday to get the answer straight from the host's mouth.

Springer will be invited to testify under oath before the City Council's Police and Fire Committee to say whether the punching, the wrestling, the chair-throwing and the hair pulling is genuine.

And if he fails to show up at City Hall voluntarily, Ald. William Beavers (7th), the committee's chairman, said he would back a proposal by Ald. Edward Burke (14th) to subpoena the controversial Springer.

Either way, Springer, a one-time Cincinnati council member and former mayor of the Ohio city, would find himself in a ticklish position.

If Springer repeats past assertions that the violence on his show is not staged, Burke will push a proposal, discussed Wednesday, to have Chicago police officers make arrests when combat erupts between guests.

And if Springer says the confrontations are scripted, he not only would face embarrassment--assuming that is possible--but would be forced to obtain a city entertainment license if Burke has his way.

"I think that, just like (boxing promoter) Don King, Springer ought to be required to get a license to put on that trash," the alderman said.

A "Springer" spokeswoman issued a statement acknowledging that "there is a lot of internal conflict on the show, but we have security in place to handle it."

Moreover, "it would be selective enforcement to arrest people just on our show," the spokeswoman said. "It would have to be enforced against all public entertainment, including sports teams."

Mayor Richard Daley made it clear, in his inimitable way, where he stands on the "for real or phony" debate.

"You have to understand, that's theater," he told reporters. "You scream. You yell. You make faces at people. . . . And you meet your cousin who has a love affair with your mother and some relative and your daughter and all these other things."

Police officials who were grilled by Burke at Wednesday's meeting agreed.

Anthony Chiesa, the department's chief of patrol, said that another television show once interviewed 20 Springer guests who reported that "there were rehearsals prior to the taping."

"From all indications, this is produced entertainment akin to the World Wrestling Federation or roller derby," Chiesa said. Only once has a show participant filed a complaint, and a guest who was the alleged attacker was arrested and charged, he added.

But Burke, unconvinced, criticized police for their lack of action, even though off-duty officers are employed by Springer's show to provide security and witness what goes on.

The alderman showed about 10 minutes worth of taped "Jerry Springer" clips, each depicting guest-on-guest attacks, on a television monitor that was rolled into the council chamber.

"If this took place at Wrigley Field or down here on State Street, you would be loading up the wagon," he told Chiesa. "This is not about freedom of expression, but the inconsistency of law enforcement in Chicago. . . . Why the double standard?"

Rev. Michael Pfleger, the activist priest who has campaigned against "Jerry Springer," asserted the show "teaches that violence is normal and acceptable behavior."

"Mr. Springer said last week that his show is real-life stories with real-life people," said Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church. "Well, there must be real, live consequences" to the violent acts that take place, he said.

Burke questioned why police chose not to act on an April 14 letter from Pfleger to department officials asking that arrests be made when assaults occur on the "Jerry Springer" set.

Burke expressed frustration that cops have not arrested violent show participants, even though the Police Department has been able to "figure out a way to lock (Pfleger) up for vandalizing advertising signs for liquor and tobacco."

The priest has campaigned against such advertising in inner-city neighborhoods, contending that it targets minority youths.